{"id":631,"date":"2018-08-15T11:26:01","date_gmt":"2018-08-15T11:26:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.open.ac.uk\/blogs\/is\/?p=631"},"modified":"2018-12-16T15:07:42","modified_gmt":"2018-12-16T15:07:42","slug":"tarn-et-garonne","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.open.ac.uk\/blogs\/is\/?p=631","title":{"rendered":"Tarn-et-Garonne"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>This summer we visited Tarn-et-Garonne, in southern France, staying near the Aveyron river. It&#8217;s a great area for butterflies, because of the climate, the soil, and the low intensity organic farming. In fact, so rich was the country for butterflies that it made me wonder why we bother in England desperately trying to protect a small patch of unimproved chalk grassland for a tiny population. The difference in scale got me thinking.<\/p>\n<p>Scarce swallowtails were in abundance (below), and we saw a few other swallowtails too (which looked more like the English ones).<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.open.ac.uk\/blogs\/is\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/DSCF2510.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-medium wp-image-632\" src=\"https:\/\/www.open.ac.uk\/blogs\/is\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/DSCF2510-300x225.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"300\" height=\"225\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.open.ac.uk\/blogs\/is\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/DSCF2510-300x225.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.open.ac.uk\/blogs\/is\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/DSCF2510-768x576.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.open.ac.uk\/blogs\/is\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/DSCF2510.jpg 800w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>Millions of moths about, including jersey tiger moths like this one.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.open.ac.uk\/blogs\/is\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/DSCF2298-001.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-medium wp-image-633\" src=\"https:\/\/www.open.ac.uk\/blogs\/is\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/DSCF2298-001-300x225.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"300\" height=\"225\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.open.ac.uk\/blogs\/is\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/DSCF2298-001-300x225.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.open.ac.uk\/blogs\/is\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/DSCF2298-001-768x576.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.open.ac.uk\/blogs\/is\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/DSCF2298-001.jpg 800w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>E&#8217;s favourites were the fritillaries, such as that shown below, which looks like a glanville fritillary.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.open.ac.uk\/blogs\/is\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/fritillary.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-medium wp-image-659\" src=\"https:\/\/www.open.ac.uk\/blogs\/is\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/fritillary-300x225.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"300\" height=\"225\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.open.ac.uk\/blogs\/is\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/fritillary-300x225.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.open.ac.uk\/blogs\/is\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/fritillary-768x576.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.open.ac.uk\/blogs\/is\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/fritillary-1024x768.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/www.open.ac.uk\/blogs\/is\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/fritillary.jpg 1288w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>Here&#8217;s another&#8230;<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.open.ac.uk\/blogs\/is\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/DSCF2396.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-medium wp-image-634\" src=\"https:\/\/www.open.ac.uk\/blogs\/is\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/DSCF2396-300x225.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"300\" height=\"225\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.open.ac.uk\/blogs\/is\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/DSCF2396-300x225.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.open.ac.uk\/blogs\/is\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/DSCF2396-768x576.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.open.ac.uk\/blogs\/is\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/DSCF2396.jpg 800w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>A highlight for me was this lesser purple emperor.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.open.ac.uk\/blogs\/is\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/20180808_132122.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-medium wp-image-635\" src=\"https:\/\/www.open.ac.uk\/blogs\/is\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/20180808_132122-300x236.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"300\" height=\"236\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.open.ac.uk\/blogs\/is\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/20180808_132122-300x236.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.open.ac.uk\/blogs\/is\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/20180808_132122-768x605.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.open.ac.uk\/blogs\/is\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/20180808_132122-1024x806.jpg 1024w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>I rather liked this wasp spider too.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.open.ac.uk\/blogs\/is\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/DSCF2393-001.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-medium wp-image-636\" src=\"https:\/\/www.open.ac.uk\/blogs\/is\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/DSCF2393-001-300x225.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"300\" height=\"225\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.open.ac.uk\/blogs\/is\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/DSCF2393-001-300x225.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.open.ac.uk\/blogs\/is\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/DSCF2393-001-768x576.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.open.ac.uk\/blogs\/is\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/DSCF2393-001.jpg 800w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>Plenty of lizards of course.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.open.ac.uk\/blogs\/is\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/DSCF2388.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-medium wp-image-637\" src=\"https:\/\/www.open.ac.uk\/blogs\/is\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/DSCF2388-300x225.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"300\" height=\"225\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.open.ac.uk\/blogs\/is\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/DSCF2388-300x225.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.open.ac.uk\/blogs\/is\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/DSCF2388-768x576.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.open.ac.uk\/blogs\/is\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/DSCF2388.jpg 800w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>And beetle things&#8230;<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.open.ac.uk\/blogs\/is\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/DSCF2475.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-medium wp-image-638\" src=\"https:\/\/www.open.ac.uk\/blogs\/is\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/DSCF2475-300x225.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"300\" height=\"225\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.open.ac.uk\/blogs\/is\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/DSCF2475-300x225.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.open.ac.uk\/blogs\/is\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/DSCF2475-768x576.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.open.ac.uk\/blogs\/is\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/DSCF2475.jpg 800w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>However, perhaps best of all was the volume of blue butterflies. One here:<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.open.ac.uk\/blogs\/is\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/DSCF2493.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-medium wp-image-639\" src=\"https:\/\/www.open.ac.uk\/blogs\/is\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/DSCF2493-300x225.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"300\" height=\"225\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.open.ac.uk\/blogs\/is\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/DSCF2493-300x225.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.open.ac.uk\/blogs\/is\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/DSCF2493-768x576.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.open.ac.uk\/blogs\/is\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/DSCF2493.jpg 800w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>and a whole load in this video:<\/p>\n<div style=\"width: 640px;\" class=\"wp-video\"><!--[if lt IE 9]><script>document.createElement('video');<\/script><![endif]-->\n<video class=\"wp-video-shortcode\" id=\"video-631-1\" width=\"640\" height=\"352\" preload=\"metadata\" controls=\"controls\"><source type=\"video\/mp4\" src=\"https:\/\/www.open.ac.uk\/blogs\/is\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/blues.mp4?_=1\" \/><a href=\"https:\/\/www.open.ac.uk\/blogs\/is\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/blues.mp4\">https:\/\/www.open.ac.uk\/blogs\/is\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/blues.mp4<\/a><\/video><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>This summer we visited Tarn-et-Garonne, in southern France, staying near the Aveyron river. It&#8217;s a great area for butterflies, because of the climate, the soil, and the low intensity organic farming. In fact, so rich was the country for butterflies that it made me wonder why we bother in England desperately trying to protect a [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-631","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.open.ac.uk\/blogs\/is\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/631","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.open.ac.uk\/blogs\/is\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.open.ac.uk\/blogs\/is\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.open.ac.uk\/blogs\/is\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.open.ac.uk\/blogs\/is\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=631"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/www.open.ac.uk\/blogs\/is\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/631\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":660,"href":"https:\/\/www.open.ac.uk\/blogs\/is\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/631\/revisions\/660"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.open.ac.uk\/blogs\/is\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=631"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.open.ac.uk\/blogs\/is\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=631"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.open.ac.uk\/blogs\/is\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=631"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}